Bruce Haring, the managing director and festival producer of the US-based Green Book Festival e-mailed Lalaine Villafuerte-Abonal to confirm that she was the only Filipino who made it to the Winner Circle of the 2009 Green Book Festival competition as an Honorable Mention winner for her 550 page, full-color book entitled “Coconut Philippines”. All the rest of the winners were US and UK authors. Bruce Haring, the festival’s producer is also the author of several music industry books including Beyond the Charts: MP3 and the Digital Music Revolution and Off The Charts: Ruthless Days and Reckless Nights Inside the Music Industry, for which he earned a 1997 Non-Fiction Book of the Year award. Bruce Haring is also a former entertainment journalist for USA Today, Daily Variety, Billboard, Associated Press and others. This international award to Coconut Philippines brings honor to our country, the largest producer and exporter of coconut by-products worldwide.

The 2009 Green Book Festival is an annual competition honoring books that contribute to greater understanding, respect and positive action on the changing worldwide environment.

The panel of judges of the annual Green Book Festival are drawn from the ranks of journalists, authors, publishers, agents, film directors and illustrators based in the USA.

The annual Green Book Festival competition is organized by JM Northern Media LLC, a company based in Hollywood, California and is focused on media and the people who make it. Founded in 1999, they produce annual events and report on the people who are making things happen in the world of digital media and beyond.

Today, Coconut Philippines, an awardee of the Green Book Festival is considered the most comprehensive visual reference guidebook on coconut and its by-products. The hard-bound book showcases a superb collection of creative coconut products that ranges from food, skin care, giftwares, decorative accessories, furniture, fixtures, fashion items, spa ingredients, construction and building materials to biofuels and other industrial products.

In July 2007, Lalaine V. Abonal, author of Coconut Philippines was also chosen as Power Books Filipino Author of the Month. Powerbooks Specialty Store is a complete one-stop bookstore with 12 branches in the Philippines.

Lalaine Villafuerte-Abonal is an ardent advocate of coconut products and is the founder of the company: Coconut Republic based in California. Coconut Republic exports Philippine-made coconut products mostly to the USA and Europe and is now an internationally registered trademark in the following countries: USA, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, Italy, Singapore, China, Japan

The best-selling coconut products of Coconut Republic are all-natural and 100% organic including coconut sugar, coconut syrup, coconut flour, coconut vinegar, coconut seasoning, coconut toasted shreds, virgin coconut oil and several others. On August 19, 2009, Coconut Republic received its USDA NOP Organic Certification from the US-based certifying agency Organic Crop Improvement Association (OCIA International). OCIA is one of the world’s first, largest and trusted leaders in organic certification.

The Coconut Philippines book is available online at Amazon.com and major bookstores in the Philippines including National Book Store, Fully Booked, Power Books, Ayala Museum, Solidaridad bookstore, Trade Winds, Academic Connection, and Book Trend Enterprises.

Have a joyful day!